Michael Owen stated that ‘I nearly fell off my chair’ when he was shown a graphic of Liverpool and Everton’s transfer spending since the summer of 2016.
Whilst Liverpool are pushing for all trophies heading into May, their Merseyside neighbours are fearful of suffering relegation to the Championship.
This despite Everton forking out £639 million on players over the last six years and Liverpool spending £569 million, as you can see below.
The results of that have been pretty obvious with Everton failing to make Europe once, no trophies, whilst their bitter rivals have gone through one of their best periods in recent history, including winning the Premier League and the Champions League.
It’s something that former England striker Owen described as ‘scary’ when realising the extent of Everton’s mess compared to Liverpool’s success, as he told Premier League Productions (24/04/22 at 1:10 pm).
“Scary, I nearly fell off my chair when I saw that,” said Owen. “You look at that squad now and you think ‘wow that squad needs a couple of hundred of million spent on it’.
“That’s the thing. They have spent all that money. But they are still in the state they are in.
On Liverpool spending: “It’s easy to spend when you are flying. When you have a really confident squad that’s flying. You can sign anybody and they will look good.
“You look at the likes of Jota and Diaz. They don’t take time to settle in anymore into that squad. They get swept along with the positivity. The whole place is just buzzing.
“So, no matter who you sign, it will be a success. There are certain clubs, Everton, of course, and Manchester United. You just feel whoever they sign, they can turn good players into bad players overnight just because of the general mood of the club. It’s the opposite for Liverpool.”
It just goes to show how money doesn’t exactly equal success in today’s game, even though the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea have become elite clubs as a result of heavy spending.
With Everton’s situation, the spotlight needs to be put on those at the top and the man running the Goodison Park ship – Farhad Moshiri.
Whilst Liverpool fans don’t exactly see eye-to-eye with FSG, those in key positions from Michael Edwards to Jurgen Klopp have done a stellar job.
Meanwhile, across the city, those in the Everton boardroom probably can’t explain their current strategy because it has been laughable.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
